


Strong Opinions on Discrimination and Pluto (Throw in a Protective, Potentially Turing-Passing Robot)

by Diary



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Fail, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Canon Character of Color, Canon Crossover, Discussions on Race and Racism, Families of Choice, First Meetings, Friendship/Love, Guilt, Introspection, Late Night Conversations, POV Male Character, POV Steve Rogers, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Self-Reflection, Stark Tower, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 11:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14736143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: A possible look at Sam and Bruce's first meeting and their later bonding from Steve's POV. Complete.





	Strong Opinions on Discrimination and Pluto (Throw in a Protective, Potentially Turing-Passing Robot)

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything in the MCU.

Bruce is talking to a robot when Steve brings Sam in.

Steve’s never understood Tony talking to them, likely due to the fact, Tony’s idea of talking to them is Tony running around and exasperatedly scolding them with a liberal dash of pop culture references thrown in, but he can’t help but smile. Bruce is kneeling down, and it’s more like he’s talking to a child than a machine.

“And this definitely fits under the protocol of ‘avoid upsetting Miss Potts’, alright,” he gently says.

The robot makes a happy-sounding beeping noise, and smiling slightly, Bruce pats it.

Standing, Bruce does a double-take.

“Hey, doc,” he greets. “This is Sam Wilson. He recently helped me and Nat out, and Tony’s insisting on examining his wings.”

“I’ve seen the news.” The robot hands Bruce his glasses, and putting them on, he offers his hand. “Is it ‘Mister’ or your rank?”

“Sam’s good. What about you?”

Bruce shrugs, and abruptly, Steve feels uneasiness brewing inside. “Anything but ‘Hulk’ is good. Careful, no, Graceless, you can’t take his wallet.”

The uneasiness vanishes when he sees the robot is trying to reach into Sam’s pocket.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce continues, “she steals Colonel Rhodes’s wallet, too. I think it’s Tony’s doing.”

“Or maybe she just knows Steve doesn’t have anything more metallic than coins in his. I have a butterfly knife in mine.” Taking the wallet out and giving Steve a look, he kneels down and opens it for the robot.

“Oh, no,” is Bruce’s horrified response, but thankfully, there’s no trace of green to his eyes. Before Steve can reassure him, he’s kneeling down. “Hey, Graceless,” he says, and the robot excitedly turns, “we’ve never talked about you scanning people before.”

Steve isn’t sure what exactly brings this about, but somehow, he and Sam end up down to their underwear and being scanned by a different sort of machine.

He’s never brought anyone else to the compound, but if he had, he imagines his response would be a sheepish apology and cracking some jokes about how zany things can get with the others.

Except- Bruce is polite to Sam, and from everything Steve can see, it’s not forced or fake. He calls Tony and insists Tony drag Colonel Rhodes in and get a list of everyone else Graceless and the other robots might have scanned, and then, there’s a long conversation about  _ethics_ and  _it’s not harmless, scanning people without permission_ \-  _yes, I’m bringing that up_ \-  _well, I am an exception_ …

What Steve gets from the whole experience is: Bruce thinks Tony’s robots shouldn’t scan people, apparently but unsurprisingly, Tony seems to disagree, and neither Steve or Sam really get to express their own opinions on the matter.

Bruce talks to Steve more than Sam during all of this, and Steve hates the suspicions he has brewing inside. It’s rare for him to be wrong when these suspicions come, but it has happened before. In this case, aside from the fact Tony loves Rhodey and is extremely unlikely to not realise it if someone living and working in his compound holds despicable views towards Rhodey, Bruce is often shy, and he has a tendency to go completely closed-off when it comes to most soldiers and SHIELD agents, including him, every other Avenger besides Tony, Rhodey, and the director. Sam being out of the service could easily not be enough to make Bruce feel at-ease.

After all their clothes are given back, he and Sam are walking back to the subway when he hears, “I don’t think it’s me being black.”

Jumping, he looks over.

Giving him a small smile, Sam nudges him. “Your thoughts are coming in loud and clear on your face.”

“I’ve served with people who, in their case, it would be. He wouldn’t be the first. It doesn’t mean I’ve ever liked it.”

Sam shrugs. “I had buddies who used to argue about Chris Rock all the time. You know who that is?”

“Yeah. I caught a rerun of him doing a stand-up show one night.”

Chuckling, Sam nods. “Well, what the conclusion I came to listening to them: You’re responsible for you. There are little kids out there, black, brown, and all the other colours humans can be, and they’re going to think, ‘Wow,’ when they see the news about us. And that’s great, man, but they can’t be the reason I make such big decisions. I’m responsible for me, and even if the whole world decides to paint me with the same brush, I’m not going to hold myself responsible for what other black people do.”

Steve considers the words.

“I think you can hear almost if not all white people benefit in some ways from white privilege without getting defensive.”

He nods.

“That still doesn’t make them responsible for other white people. I’ve always believed people should do what they think is right and try to live a life they can be proud of. There’s always going to be conflict. Different people having different moral compasses and some people just being flat out threats to innocent people.”

“That means there’s always going to be a job for people like me,” Steve comments.

“In your case, it’s more of a calling than a job.”

The words are true, and there’s no condemnation in the tone, but sometimes, they hit him. He always thought, if he lived in a better world, he’d be happier and more settled. If there weren’t always something that needed fighting- Now, he’s in a future he never could have fully dreamed of, and in all the ways it’s better, there are still things he needs to fight against.

Sometimes, he’s afraid, if there ever stops being things he needs to fight against, he’ll be the opposite of happy and settled, and what kind of man wants innocent people to suffer just so he can save them?

“But people are ultimately responsible for themselves. Parents should try to raise their kids with good values, you shouldn’t call someone your friend if you have certain vast differences in values, and in a lot of cases, family loyalty is a good thing. Otherwise, though, the only person I have to answer for is myself, and I don’t expect others to answer for anyone but themselves.”

Steve’s heard similar things from others, but he’s used to righteous anger and unsympathetic looks. Since he’s been revived, no one’s asked him why he never said or did anything about the Japanese-Americans being put in internment camps, and the answer is: Until he met Jim, he didn’t know, and by then, he was knee-deep in the middle of war zones. When Bucky fell, all his focus was split between finding him, or at least, his body and winning the war.

He feels he should have known sooner, wonders how and why he didn’t, and he knows, if he hadn’t been solely focused on those two things, he could have found a way to do something.

“You spiralling?” Sam’s quiet voice brings him back.

Sighing, he acknowledges, “Yeah, I am. Thanks.”

“If there weren’t people like you, I’d be out of a job.”

“Wouldn’t want to deprive you of that. After everything you’ve done lately, it’s clear it’s the only thing you’re qualified for.”

Laughing, Sam looks at him with kind, strong eyes. “You’re going to adjust to the peaceful times, captain, and be able to apply your calling to them. It just takes time, and sometimes, good friends can’t hurt. Dr Banner- I think it might be the same. He’s spent years fighting for survival and a semblance of freedom. Being physically safe doesn’t mean his instincts are going to taper down just like that, and we both know how hard it is to fully believe, ‘You can do anything, now.’”

“Yeah. Thanks, Sam. Hey, uh, could I buy you dinner?”

“I’m in, as long as it’s not Thai. And you let me get the tip.”

…

Sam has some bizarre food preferences, but Steve guesses he can’t really say anything, because, Bucky used to say the exact same thing about him. Everyone else pitied him, thinking it was because of how sickly he was, but Buck always said, “Right, pal, you become healthy overnight, and I guarantee the only thing that’ll change is how much more of these queer foods you eat.”

“Okay, first of all-”

Jumping, he looks up at Sam.

“I can’t reel off the statistics, but statistically, how I like my burger isn’t unusual. Second, I try not to take my work home, but there’s a big difference between being a good friend and my job. If Captain America needs me on another mission, I’m there. If you think talking to a counsellor or qualified mental health professional would be good for you, there are several people I’d happily recommend.”

Sam takes a sip of his drink. “But if you just need a friend, I’m here. It hasn’t happened yet, but trust me, there will come a time I call you at three in the morning to complain about something, and if you hang up instead of putting me on mute and unmuting me when there’s a pause, I’ll find a way to call Black Widow and set her on you. Seeing as how I’m technically a civilian and you’re a fellow operative.”

He laughs. “That just means she’ll go after me first.”

When there was something he couldn’t tell his ma, he could tell Bucky, and when he decided not to tell Buck something, Bucky somehow always knew. With Peggy, as much as he hoped they would, he knew back then there was a possibility they wouldn’t last if he’d made it back home. For all she insists on him talking now and is willing to fill him in on her life after the war, back then, there were things neither was ready to tell the other.

“Bruce helped save the world, and I’ve always liked him. I guess that made me think I knew him better than I did. Until today- I never thought anything of him being uncomfortable around Rhodey or not particularly liking Director Fury. But that’s where my mind went.”

“Again, I don’t think racism had anything to do with him being reserved towards me, but is there anything that would have indicated to you that he’s not?”

“He spent a lot of his time on the run helping people in places like India and Brazil. He never took much in the form of payment, and sometimes, he didn’t take anything.”

“And those people you served with who would be called racist today, they went to other countries, too, including Japan.”

“Good point,” he acknowledges.

“You’re just not that close to him. The others, they all took to me pretty quick, in part because of their friendship with you. You know I’m different from Colonel Rhodes and Director Fury. In his mind, it could be race, but most likely, anyone associated with military or intelligence is a high-risk potential threat. We both know you can't help what you're afraid of, only how you choose to address those fears.”

Fear is easy for him to handle, but occasionally, sadness and guilt will creep up on him when he thinks of Bruce. If it were up to him, Ross would never disgrace the uniform again. Apparently, lying and tricking Bruce into attempting to create a serum similar to one Howard and Dr Erskine made for him wasn’t technically illegal, but it should be. The fact, afterwards, he did horrible things to Bruce and would have done even worse, illegal things if he’d managed to catch him-

He knows not many can see Bruce without worrying about Hulk, and even Tony does know Hulk is no joking matter, but Tony does come the closest. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he knows, if Hulk is ever unleashed and goes after him, he doesn’t have a chance. This makes him always a little wary about how he approaches Bruce, and now, on top of this, he has vague suspicions that, assuming Bruce isn’t, would hurt Bruce to know about.

“Hey, I’m not saying the way some people have treated Dr Banner is right, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being reserved, but he’s made the choice to keep himself largely detached from the rest of you. And aside from Tony, all of you have respected that.”

“Yeah, but in Tony’s case-” He considers his words. “There’s a connection there. Has been since the first day on the helicarrier. I don’t think Tony would have pushed so much if he didn’t realise that Bruce would be receptive to him.”

He finishes his burger. “Uh- thanks, Sam.”

“No problem. Just remember: Mute, not hang up.”

“Is that you’re way of saying, if I call at three a.m., you’re going to mute me?” He teases.

Laughing, Sam shakes his head. “I recorded some more Andy Griffith reruns. Want to come over?”

…

Bruce’s seems to  have warmed up towards Nat some if their friendly debates involving yoga are any indication.

He, Bruce, and Sam  are talking to her when Tony storms into the lab. Pointing at Bruce, he declares, “You disabled Rhodey’s suit!”

“Tony, why would I disable Colonel Rhodes’s suit?”

“You didn’t stop me.”

Steve looks at the others, but they both look just as lost as he feels.

Bruce, however, seems genuinely unfazed. Taking off his glasses, he looks at Tony with something that barely manages not to be a smile. “I’m going to assume Colonel Rhodes’s suit was disabled at some point. I had nothing to do with this, but if you want to tell me what happened-”

“I disabled it, but it’s your fault for not checking my work.”

“The work that I had no idea you were doing and that you never showed to me?”

“I did show it to you, and I told you I was planning a surprise for Rhodey.”

“Okay.” Sighing, Bruce gives them an apologetic look. “First, Tony, is someone working on Falcon’s wings?”

“Yeah, they’re done, pick them up in Lab B whenever. Because he’s Captain’s friend, of course, you take his equipment seriously.”

“Really don’t,” Bruce says. “Uh,” he glances at Sam, “obviously, I want you to have working equipment, but I’m more into medicine and organic based sciences than technology.” Turning back to Tony, he continues, “Tony, let’s go somewhere else, and we can figure out what miscommunication happened where.”

Bruce manages to lead Tony out, and Natasha comments, “It’s always fun watching those two interact. Confusing at times, but fun.”

Sam nods. “So, we’re clear, though, someone is checking his work on my wings, right?”

“We’d better check on that,” Nat says.

…

After Nat leaves, he and Sam are in the kitchen area when Bruce stops in. “Tony’s fine. Or he’s Tony but without the accusing people of deliberately sabotaging a U.S. Colonel’s equipment.”

“I’m curious: What did happen to War Machine’s suit,” Sam asks.

“It’s Iron Patriot, now,” Steve reminds him.

Wincing slightly, Bruce says, “It, uh, turns out- um, I might have some responsibility. Graceless disabled it. I didn’t tell her to, but there’s a good chance I did or said something that made her do it.”

“Did she find out about any protocols in it for dealing with the Hulk? You know, the reason I have to give up my knife every time I visit is to keep her from following me around. She’s trying to look out for your safety.”

Steve is impressed, but before he can say anything, Bruce is giving Sam a look. “You have to- why didn’t you or you,” he turns to Steve, “say something?” Then, rolling his eyes and turning back to Sam, he groans, “Oh, God, you’re as bad as Tony, aren’t you?”

“I’m usually good with reading people, and some of those robots, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been hiding the fact they’ve passed the Turing test.”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t me, either,” Bruce mutters. “Still, there are going to be days when you’re going to be denied entry to the labs. Just as soon as I figure out how to do the same to Tony. You and Clint will be the easy ones. But since he owns the building, and designed the labs-” He shakes his head.

“What about the rest of us, doc?”

“You’re all fine. It’s the ones who could potentially turn the robots into Hal and who give a weapon to the potentially sentient robots instead of telling someone so that she can be stopped that I’m worried about.”

“Everyone needs to feel powerful sometimes, Dr Banner. If someone hurts you, Hulk comes out, but realistically, what can a robot her size and with no real defence or offensive features do to protect Hulk?”

“Huh. Put it like that, she’s definitely Tony’s. He genuinely likes the other guy.”

Steve has the feeling Bruce misunderstood Sam, and this is strengthened by Graceless coming in with an extra-large carton of all of Bruce’s favourite fruits.

“Thanks,” Bruce sighs. Patting her, he asks, “You two want any?”

Digging some honeydews out, Sam comments, “So, I’ll be the first non-Avenger banned, huh?”

“From what I understand, you’re already an Avenger, and no.”

Feeling a swell of gratitude and affection towards him, Steve nevertheless feels the need to say, “Uh, Bruce, you can’t-”

“If Tony says I can, then, I will.”

“There’s someone else you want banned, but you don’t feel the need to wait until Tony can be added to the list in their case?”

“Yep,” Bruce answers, and Steve isn’t sure how Sam did it, but usually, this cheerful, vaguely upbeat, teasing tone only comes out of Bruce on rare occasions, and Tony is almost always the reason. “And Tony’s fine with it.”

“You can’t discriminate against someone-” He starts.

“Mass discrimination based on certain things is bad. Dr Ludwig is wrong, and I expect better from a scientist.”

Laughing, Sam looks at him. “I gotta hear this.”

“Whatever your opinion on Pluto’s status as a planet, it is a planet. Dr Banner can get- passionate. To the point he bans scientists from Natasha’s birthday party.”

In his case, he knew there were other planets out there, but if school ever taught him how many there were, what their names are, or in Pluto’s case, was, and anything else about them, he must not have been paying attention. Science and math were always more of Buck’s thing, and he was the one who made sure Bucky’s spelling and sentence structure’s were acceptable to the teachers.

“I wouldn’t ban a non-scientist for holding such an opinion. But a scientist who argues against a clear scientific fact-”

Steve is happy whenever Bruce gets excited about anything, but there are only certain times when he can be exposed to Bruce, Tony, or both babbling ninety words a minute about stuff he doubts even Howard would’ve understood without finding himself reflexively yawning. “What about that Dr Neil person?”

“Neil deGrasse Tyson. Just because he’s smarter than Tony and I combined doesn’t mean he hasn’t also done some incredibly idiotic, progress-inhibiting things.”

“Speaking of space-related things, one of my kid nieces, Tamila, is autistic and really interested in gravitational lens. This is great, but the problem is, neither she, her science teacher, who’s wonderful but not very good at breaking down scientific stuff to non-scientifically inclined people, or Google can help her mom understand much about this. The theory behind it, why it’s important, all that. Do you think maybe you could help me understand it a little better so that I can help her, Dr Banner?”

Steve suddenly finds himself in an odd position.

With Bucky, there was never any realisation. He loved his friend, and he vaguely remembers the time when he didn’t know Bucky, but- he guesses he doesn’t remember what not loving Bucky felt like. With Peggy, he remembers the exact moment he realised he loved her, and even though the woman he was in love with is mostly gone, she’s still Peggy, and he’ll always love her.

He’s loved other people but never particularly thought of it. He still misses Howard and regrets not getting off on a better foot with his son. He would have died for the Howling Commandos, trusted and loved them, but back then, he knew, after the war, he likely wouldn’t see much of them in the future.

Now, it suddenly hits him: More than Sam just being a friend, a teammate, someone he trusts and he respects, he loves him.

He wonders if Tony knows that Tony loves Bruce. Probably, he decides. There’s a good chance Tony’s ahead of the curve on him when it comes to platonic but non-familial love. Except, just like Bucky is family, Bruce might be family along with Miss Potts and Rhodey to Tony.

“I can try. How were you in high school science?”

“I made almost straight Bs with the occasional A.”

Bruce nods. “Did you ever learn about….”

The two sit, and Steve wishes he’d thought about Sam’s nieces and nephews earlier. Bruce tends to hide whenever kids visit the compound for field trips, but when it comes to talking to others about kids, he’s great.

“Hey.” Sam tugs his sleeve.

“Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

They both give him unsurprised, amused looks.

“Yeah, we got that.” Sam digs out his wallet. “Listen, can you go get me a hot dog? The kitchen here is great, but my mind’s been on a vendor hot dog all morning.”

“Gladly. Bruce, you want anything?”

“No, thank you. Keeping this in mind, the theory isn’t that different from….”

He leaves them alone.

…

After he delivers the hot dog, he takes the wings to Sam’s house, and when he gets back to the kitchen, they both stand.

Offering his hand, Sam says, “Thanks, Bruce.”

Shaking it, Bruce smiles. “No problem, Sam. Be sure to tell me what Tamila thinks of the book.”

“I will. And hey, if you ever change your mind, you’ll bump me up to her favourite uncle.”

Based on his expression, Bruce knows Sam is her only uncle, but his only response is a polite nod.

Coming over, Graceless produces the butterfly knife.

Patting her, Sam says, “Thanks. Even though you and him are going to need to talk more about certain things, you’re doing a great job at looking out for your Dr Banner.”

Graceless makes happy chirping noises.

…

“What’s the full story about Dr Ludwig being banned?”

“Well, I doubt she knows she has been,” he admits, “but she does know about Bruce’s thoughts on Pluto’s planetary status. They argue over emails a lot, but knowing him and from what I know of her, it’s likely just, ‘Here’s this science proving I’m right,’ and, ‘Oh, yeah, well, here’s this science disproving yours.’ Clint suggested inviting her, Bruce vetoed that, and Nat didn’t care. Clint didn’t really care, either. As long as she and Tony never talk, I doubt she and Bruce will ever have any serious problem with one another.”

Giving him a knowing look, Sam laughs.

He sighs. “It still doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Well, you can only worry about so much at once. Want to come over and help me clean my gutters? I’m grilling some chicken, but I can add steak.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”


End file.
